NECTAR CONSUMERS - Nectaries and Nectar - page 298

Figure 2. Head and mouthparts of two genera of Lycidae: Lycus ( left ) feeds on nectar and
Calopteron ( right ) is a predator. In Lycus , the rostrate head permits access to deep nectaries,
the mandibles are rudimentary, and there are tufts of long hair on the maxillae and labium.
(From Stamhuis, 1992.)

mopping up nectar and gathering pollen (Johnson & Nicolson, 2001). An-
other cetoniid beetle pollinates a South African orchid by sweeping dilute
nectar from “lollipop hairs”: this presentation of nectar as droplets on floral
hairs makes it easily accessible to wasps and beetles with short mouthparts

(Johnson et al., 2007). Extreme lack of specialization is demonstrated by

Mausoleopsis aldabrensis , which is highly abundant on the Indian Ocean
island of Aldabra and appears to act as a universal pollinator for the flora of
the island (Woodell, 1979).

3.2 Diptera

The evolution of flower feeding in Diptera is discussed by Grimaldi and
Engel (2005). The Diptera appeared long before the flowering plants, and
Downes and Dahlem (1987) suggested that honeydew use is likely to have
preceded nectar feeding, the pseudotracheate labellum of flies being ideal for
dissolving and imbibing dried films of honeydew on leaves. Within the sub-
order Nematocera, the mosquitoes are well known as nectar feeders. Males